City: Pay utility bills by 5 p.m.

Employees in field no longer can accept payment to reconnect

Dec. 23, 2013

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Disconnections by year

2013: 2,049 2012: 1,980 2011: 2,397 To have service reconnected, contact the utility billing office at 367-8131 before 5 p.m. Bills can be paid • In person at the utility billing office, 1201 N. Western Ave. • Online at https://utilities.siouxfalls.org• Through an automated payment plan • By phone at 978-6936 • By mail using the pre-addressed envelope

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Sioux Falls residents who don’t pay their bills and have their water and sewer service disconnected will have to make a payment during office hours.

Starting next year, Sioux Falls Utility employees won’t be accepting payments in the field after 5 p.m.

Customers who have been disconnected will need to pay their balance and contact the city’s utility billing office before 5 p.m. to be reconnected in the same day.

“It’s really about the safety of our employees, No. 1,” said Dean Borchardt, business operations manager for the Sioux Falls Public Works Department. “We don’t want them out there with cash when it’s late at night.”

He said they haven’t had a problem with employees being assaulted or robbed in the field. But having service disconnected can present a tense situation, he said, and there have been instances where employees have felt uncomfortable.

“This is a proactive step,” he said.

Customers received a notice about the policy change with their bills this month.

Borchardt said it also helps the city track that money more closely, and it reduces overtime the city pays for the employee who is on call after hours to reconnect customers.

A customer gets about 45 days and four notices before the city disconnects service.

If the bill goes unpaid for 30 days, customers get a second statement telling them the outstanding balance. About 13 days after that, a red notice is sent, telling them their service will be disconnected. They’ll get automated phone calls two to three days before shut off.

“It shouldn’t ever be a surprise to an individual that they’re disconnected,” Borchardt said.

About 2,000 customers are disconnected every year, averaging about 170 per month.

The city can work out special billing arrangements with those who can’t pay their bills.

“The last thing we really want to do is disconnect them,” Borchardt said.

Help also is available through Minnehaha County Human Services. Its program covers all utility bills, though through the winter months, state and federal programs pick up much of the tab for heating assistance. The county’s program is geared mostly toward help with electric bills and water-sewer bills.

Emergency services manager Jamie Phelps said the program serves about 2,000 people a year in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties.